Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – September 2016

September 28, 2016

It’s almost October, so that means it’s time to discuss what we’ve been reading during September >>> and can recommend! This month I highlighted Miranda James’s Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series and Erika Chase’s Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series, so I’ll start the list off with those. If you’re interested in reading why I’m recommending these series, you can go to the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my Cozy-Mystery site for my full write-ups on each of these great Cozy series.

So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in September? Please be sure to tell us why you liked these Cozies so much. I know we’re all always on the lookout for more particularly good Cozy Mystery authors! (If you have a lot of Cozies you think are great, please post the ones you like the most at the top of the list.)

As always, please do not tell us about the Cozy Mysteries you did not like.

What really good Cozy Mystery did you read during September 2016 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?

Here are the current recommended authors who some of you have read and recommended this past month:

[If you click on the author’s name (blue) link, it will take you to his/her page on the Cozy Mystery site. The pages have all of the authors’ books listed chronologically.]

I will list the authors and series that have been recommended, but I urge you to read the comments below so you can see the reasons other Cozy Mystery readers thought these were their best reads of the month.

Comments

Here goes.. A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julie Buckley (first in a new series) loved, loved, loved it. I like that the “sleuth ” isn’t a cook or store owner but an Assistant to a writer. Love the town, her friends and even the ending. And because of the ending I have Book 2 already ordered and it’s not coming out till next May.

Cancelled by Murder, 2nd in the Postmistress series by Jean Flowers. Again I am really loving the different jobs. Being a Postmistress Cassie knows a lot about the people in town and is devastated when a fellow quilted is found dead following a storm. Kept me guessing throughout.

There are so many fabulous books it is difficult to choose and my TBR pile is getting higher and higher! I really enjoy the cozies by Denise Swanson, and just finished Murder of a Cranky Catnapper. It is fun reading about the small town mind set of the residents and Skye’s relationships with her immediate and extended family. I am addicted to books, have too many and enthralled with Kate Carlisle ‘s and her latest Books of a Feather. Her family is a hoot, fiance sounds like a dream. I also read Gerry Schmitt(AKA Laura Child) Little Girl Gone. I would not call it a true cozy BUT it was good. It was suspenseful. Happy reading to all.

Death Crashes the Party by Vickie Fee is the first book in A Liv and Di in Dixie Mystery series. Liv McKay is a party planner in Dixie, Tennessee. While preparing for a 40th anniversary party for a fussy client, Liv finds a body in the couple’s freezer in the garage. And so Liv and her friend Di, a mail carrier, set out to discover the murderer.

I enjoyed the small town setting, the Southern charm, and the humor. I already have the 2nd book in the series on my kindle and will read it soon because it is a Halloween themed book.

I read many good books this month. I found two first-time authors who show real promise. The first is The Hotel Westend by Ashley Lynch-Harris. This is a cozy in the manner of Agatha Christie and there is a clever homage to Miss Marple early in the story. A young bookstore owner gets lost and ends up at a hotel where a suspicious death occurred twenty years ago. A group of people who were present at that time have been mysteriously brought back together. It was a good story and the solution was a real surprise. A reader asked a while ago about African-American cozy mystery writers and this is a new one to recommend.

The other new writer and book is Arsenic with Austen by Katherine Bolger Hyde. A widowed literature professor learns that she has inherited a fortune from her aunt, including a house and other properties in a small ocean side resort town in Oregon where she had spent many summers as a teenager. She meets her summer love who is now the sheriff and finds out that her aunt’s death may not have been from natural causes. Each chapter in the book begins with a quote from Jane Austen – hence the title. This book is very well written and provides a good basis for a series.

I also enjoyed A Story to Kill, the first book in a new series by Lynn Cahoon – another book featuring a woman who has inherited a big house this time in Colorado. She decides to open a writer’s retreat but of course a murder occurs. Good characters and a good premise for more in the series.

I finished reading a book last night that I want to add to my September recommendations – Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron. This is the second book in the Cajun Country mystery series and every bit as good as the first. Maggie is reluctantly serving as maid of honor for her co-worker Vanessa who is marrying Maggie’s nemesis, suspended police chief Rufus. A cousin of the bride dies and there are lots of suspects. The characters in this series are engaging and interesting and it makes for a fun read.

Thanks to Rob’s recommendation I started the Gourmet Detective series by Peter King. I’m really enjoying the series. I really appreciate you turning me on to it. I also picked up a copy of Jenn Mckinlay’s Cloche and Dagger. It caught my eye during my usual Saturday browse through the bookstore. I’m looking forward to reading it next. So many books, so little time. Maybe I should go ahead and retire so I could read all day.

I discovered a new author whose books I’ve really enjoyed so far – Julia Buckley. Like Kate Dyer-Seeley/Ellie Alexander who released two new series almost two years ago, this author has also captured my interest in her two new series.

The first one I read was The Big Chili.

Lilah Drake is the lead character. She makes dishes for acquaintances in ‘secret’. In other words, other people claim the food as their own. Lilah hopes to begin a catering business, but this is the way she is starting out.

She made a chili for a fellow church member who has become well known amongst her friends for her fantastic chili. Well……..you know what’s coming next! Someone dies at a church bingo event after eating the chili. Even at that, the lady doesn’t want to forego her reputation for making the best chili. So it remains a secret.

As always, my like or dislike of a book depends on the characters. Those in this book are very diverse and appealing. The road to the solution takes many turns with a totally unexpected outcome. All-in-all it’s great writing!

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Because I liked the above book, I looked for others by this author and found another new series. The first book is a ‘Dark and Stormy Murder’.

This book has an unusual premise. Lena London is a new college grad, hired to help a well-known author (Camille Graham) with future books, essentially becoming a ‘ghost writer’. The story is set in Blue Lake, IN.

Lena has idolized this author since she was a teenager, reading all her books several times. She moves into Camille’s mansion and they click immediately. Lena then discovers the body of a local man on the mansion’s property.

First of all, I want to emphasize how taken the reader is with this lead character/protagonist. There is some naivety to the character, but I am MOST impressed with her complete self-confidence and strength. This is emphasized MANY times throughout the story. All I can say is, “wow”!

Buckley brings much complexity to the story and the characters which thoroughly intrigues the reader. The murder is resolved and it’s not much of a surprise. However, there is a second story that is far more intriguing, making it very difficult to put the book down!

I have one suggestion for potential readers. I know I sound ‘cryptic’, but because of a previous blog discussion, my suggestion would be to buy this book and put it in your TBR pile. Then wait to read it until next April, just before the second book in the series, “Death in Dark Blue’ is released.

I am so excited to have found this new gifted author. Her stories are extremely well written and I can confidently say that I think most of the blog readers will enjoy them.

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Cancelled By Murder – Jean Flowers

This is the 2nd book in the Postmistress Mystery series by this favorite author (Minichino). The setting is unusual – a post office in Massachusetts Berkshires.

Cassie Miller is the protagonist. She relocated to her hometown from Boston and is head of the post office in this small community. The store owner of a nearby quilting fabric shop is found dead after a storm sweeps through the area. It is later declared a murder. The husband of the victim tries to solicit Cassie’s help in finding the murderer.

Although I read this quickly, there are slow moving parts. But the plot is complex with a couple trails to finding the culprit. As always, this author develops her characters well. I especially enjoy the lead character who is quite intelligent and her BFF, police chief, Sunni. It’s a bit convoluted, but the ending is a surprise.

The boyfriend is sent off on a business trip in this book. Although they communicate via phone a lot, I would prefer his actual presence in the story.

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Murder at Barclay Meadow — Wendy Sand Eckel

I just read this book although it was released a year ago. This is the first book in a series by a new author.

BRIEFLY: Rosalie (protagonist) has moved into a very old home on Maryland’s eastern shore left to her by her aunt after a divorce. She finds a body of a young lady in the marsh on the back part of her property. She gets totally involved because the girl reminds her of her own daughter who just left for college. She wants to find resolution, getting help from classmates in her creative writing class.

I mention this book because I think it’s very well written, good plot, interesting characters, and an enjoyable read.

I’m always excited to find a new authors I like……………and. so far so good!

Just finished Claudia Bishop’s A Fete Worse than Death. Good book. I have read all in the Hemlock Falls series. This was #18 I believe. I notice she hasn’t written any other cozies since 2013. Does anyone know if she is writing anymore? I’ve also read her Beaufort & Co. Mystery series written under the Mary Stanton name. Have enjoyed all her books. Hope she writes more.

Cats’ Eyes, by Mollie Hunt, is the first in a series of cozy cat mysteries that I am already hooked on. The action takes place in the friendly neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, with some forays into surrounding territory. The first-person narrator is Lynley Cannon, an retired cat lover (“not crazy yet”) who volunteers at a cat shelter and has several feline friends of her own. She manages to stumble into a mystery that – naturally – develops into theft, mayhem, and murder, and of course, comes through it in grand style. This author really knows her cats and her characters. The setting is authentic, and the cast is believable and intriguing (people as well as cats).

The book has just the right balance of plot, pacing, humor, mystery, and action. You just want to read one more chapter… then one more… then one more…. I love the little notes at the beginning of each chapter with bits of cat lore. You even get to know and love the cats in the story!

I read this and the sequel – Copy Cats – and I’m looking forward to the third in the series, coming out later this year.

I’m reading The Diva Serves High Tea by Krista Davis. Cute and perfect for a lovely day when the weather is finally under 90 degrees. Also just finished the latest Cat in the Stacks mystery. I’m not a cat person but I love Diesel.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of vintage mysteries. This month I’ve been digging into my collection of old green Penguins. 🙂 Two standouts: ‘Conjurer’s Coffin by Guy Cullingford (AKA Constance Lindsay Taylor) This is set in a ‘theatrical hotel’* in the backstreets of London at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. Told by the new hotel receptionist, Jessie Milk, a not-so-young-anymore country woman looking for a little excitement, after spending her life nursing her ailing mother. It’s a nice, twisty story with lots of solid background detail. Well written with intriguing characters, and a very different plot. Echoes of both Christie and Dashiell Hammett.

*A theatrical hotel, for anyone unfamiliar with the term, (It is an old one) was one that was frequented by travelling actors, dancers, etc. Members of the theatrical profession. Usually small, and cheap. More like a boarding house, but without meals provided. Often (though not in this case) run by a retired actress / dancer of some kind.

The second author I’m recommending is probably more familiar to most people on here. ‘Final Curtain’ by Ngaio Marsh. For some reason I’ve never really been a fan of hers, but I thoroughly enjoyed this *very* Christie-esque story of an artist being comissioned to paint a portrait of an egotistical aging actor, who is murdered while all of the equally eccentric family is gathered at the family seat, and just after he has changed his will… Eccentric family members, practical jokes (Including a whoopee cushion) and the patriach’s very young but beautiful, mistress turned fiancee, make for an interesting mix in the lead-up to the murder. Again set in the late 1940’s, and with a sub-plot of the investigating detective being the artist’s husband, newly returned after more than three years away at war. Good stuff, indeed.

This month I have enjoyed the Aunt Bessie books by Diana Xarissa. Set on The Isle of Man the books are a fun read. Aunt Bessie is vaguely Miss Marple-ish and her friends are all people who it would be nice to know.

I also enjoyed the first of the Natural Remedies mysteries by Chrystle Fiedler, partially because I am interested in herbs but also because it was a good story.

The Frankie Chandler mysteries by Jacqueline Vick were also enjoyable, about a pet psychic who thought she was a fraud and was startled to begin developing a real talent and worried about what to do with it. Those books got me started looking for something similar and I also read the pet psychic mysteries by Shannon Esposito and found them to be fun to read.

Carolyn Dean’s Bed, Breakfast and Bones was nice, light reading with some enjoyable characters and I loved Mrs. Granger. It’s about a young woman who inherits a derelict B&B on the Oregon coast and, of course, finds a body while fixing it up. This is #1 in the series, #2 will be out the 16th of October.

And last, but far from least, I got caught up on JA Jance’s Ali Reynolds books and Zoe Sharp’s Charlie Fox books. The Charlie books are thrillers rather than mysteries, but for anyone who enjoys Jack Reacher and similar books Charlotte Foxcroft is not to be missed. I think much has already been said about Ali Reynolds in these pages, for me all of the J A Jance books are must read.

I started the month with Death at the Day Lily Café by Wendy Sand Eckel. This is the second book in the Rosalie Hart series and I love how Rosalie has come into her own in this book. Rosalie successfully launches her new café and, when her friend (who was very supportive of her in the first book) asks for help when the friend’s sister is accused of murder, manages to find the time (with the help of more friends) to solve the murder. These are characters I enjoy spending time with and I am looking forward to more books in this series.

Another series that I really enjoy is the Museum Mystery series by Sheila Connolly. I’m a little behind on this series (I need more time to work on my TBR pile – it just keeps growing!), so this month I read Privy to the Dead, the sixth book in the series (the seventh book came out in June). It was good to see Nell and James settling into their new routine. Of course, when one of the workers on the construction project at the museum dies, Nell mobilizes her team to determine whether the man’s death has anything to do with the museum.

Éclair and Present Danger, Laura Bradford’s first book in the Emergency Dessert Squad series, introduces a service I wish I had available. When she is forced to close her bakery when the landlord raises rents at the same time as she inherits an old ambulance, Winnie starts a new business making emergency deliveries of desserts to those in need, beginning with the Don’t Be Blue-berry Pie she delivers to her neighbor after they find another neighbor murdered. The book introduces us to a wonderful cast of characters, including Winnie’s assistant and neighbors. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Some of you may recall that I when I started posting my monthly reading recommendations, I was reading a LOT of books in a month — that’s me, always been. Then in recent months.. not so much… Reason for that was (I blush to admit), I’d been spending a lot of time with a very addictive game on my Kindle Fire, with the result that I wasn’t reading so many books each month. Well — about 3 weeks ago or so the developers of the game made some really LOUSY changes to the game and — its just not so much fun anymore — and — I’M READING MORE BOOKS AGAIN LOLOL!!!!

So for this month:

Joan Hess — Maggody in Manhattan (Arly Hanks series) — Not new, but I’d been reading this series according to what my local library had available & not all the titles were. Now they’re getting more as e-books, I’m gaining access to titles I’d been previously missing. In this title, Arly has to go (back) to Manhattan to save her mother and Estelle when they get into trouble during a cooking contest.

Gayle Leeson — The Calamity Cafe (Down South Cafe series) — First in a new series, Amy Flowers is tired of waiting tables & wanting to open her own cafe — and then her greasy spoon boss turns up dead and Amy is (of course) one of the suspects. I did figure out fairly early on whodunnit (when you read as much as I do, you get a feel for it, mostly in terms of how the characters appear & are written, simply because writing about a murder has certain limitations not true of murder in real life, where anyone can be a killer and nobody has to “introduce” them to the detectives) — but I didn’t figure out *why* that person “dunnit” till fairly late in the book — and i enjoyed “meeting” the cast of characters & looking forward to the second book in the series due out in April.

Kaitlyn Dunnett — Kilt at the Highland Games (Liss MacCrimmon series) — What can I say — I’ve always enjoyed this series & this latest installment doesn’t disappoint.

Victoria Laurie — A Grave Prediction (Psychic Eye series) — While I’m not generally big on “psychic” stories, this is one psychic series that I do enjoy. It centers around professional psychic Abby Cooper, who is married to an FBI agent & who consults with the FBI on various cases — not always meeting with the greatest cooperation by other agents who are wary of her talents. In this installment, Abby is sent to San Diego to help train FBI agents to use their intuition — she is tasked with helping solve a series of bank robberies, but seems drawn to a vision of graves… that may actually be the graves of future murder victims…

Janet Finsilver — Murder at the Mansion (Kelly Jackson series) — Second book in the Kelly Jackson series. Kelly is a manager for a chain of B & Bs & sent to work at whatever facility she is currently needed — and where she usually discovers a dead body — and is aided in solving the murder by her gang of “silver sentinels”, a group of spry senior citizens. A great group of characters in this series and the fact that she is sent to different of the chain’s properties each time keeps the setting from becoming stale (because, Mary Daheim notwithstanding, how many dead bodies can you actually have in a single B & B?)

Laura DiSilverio — The Readaholics and the Poirot Puzzle (Book Club Mystery series) — Centers around a book club, aptly named the Readaholics, who seem to find themselves enmeshed in solving murders that somehow manage to relate to the book they’re reading at the moment.

Josie Belle — All Sales Final (Good Buy Girls series) — Good novel, alas end of the series. I wish it would continue, but at least it ends at a natural conclusion (rather than with cliffhangers as some unfortunate series leave us).

Juliet Blackwell — Give Up The Ghost (Haunted Home Renovation series)– Mel Turner, ghost whisperer & vintage home renovation specialist is back. This time she is tasked with undoing some ghastly modernization that is making the resident ghosts mighty unhappy — in the process solving a very old mystery — and a new one.

Jenn McKinlay — At The Drop of a Hat (Hat Shop series) — I do love this series — Wish they would do some hats for the royals — would love to have Kate et al dropping in to the shop!

Ruth Moose — Doing It At The Dixie Dew and Wedding Bell Blues (Dixie Dew series) First two titles in a new series. Beth McKenzie returns to her home town to open a B & B in her grandmother’s old house, which is in need of extensive repairs. In the first title, her first guest is found murdered & Beth is a suspect. She must find the real murderer to clear her name & keep her new B & B from going under. The town is populated by a whole slew of zany characters (including a white rabbit named Robert Redford) & Beth has to deal with their help — and hindrance. The second title involves the upcoming nuptials of both the town’s eccentric homeless woman (who thinks she’s murdered her beloved), as well as the wedding of the local lawman (who is Beth’s nemesis), but whose wedding Beth will be catering.

Alyssa Maxwell — Murder At Rough Point (Gilded Newport series)– Newest in this series. Another one of the historical mystery series that I love, involving Emma Cross, a poor relation of the Vanderbilts who finds herself solving murders in their grand mansions.

Isis Crawford — A Catered Tea Party (Mystery With Recipes series) — In this newest title in the series, sisters Bernie and Libby are catering a tea party for a grand opening of a theater — when the billionaire (who is not only funding the shebang, but also writing the script, directing and acting in the play, as well as micromanaging everyone and everything and generally not only making a nuisance of himself, but also racking up enemies along the way) is murdered — and a $2 milliion dollar antique teapot is stolen. The sisters have to solve both the theft & the murder to save a friend who is being blamed for both.

Ellie Alexander — Caught Bread Handed, and On Thin Icing (Bakeshop series) — two most recent titles in this series. Both good ones.

Mary Marks — Something’s Knot Kosher (Quilting series) — Martha Rose is helping her friend and fellow quilter Birdie Watson, whose husband Russell has been murdered in a bank robbery. Except that a number of strange things are happening that makes Martha wonder if it was simply a robbery gone bad — or if there was more involved. On the way to the burial in Oregon, they discover an extra body in the coffin with the (legitimately deceased Russell) — who is he & how did he get there? And who really killed Russell? And why?

Jane Thynne — Woman in the Shadows (Clara Vine series) — Oh I do love this series about Clara Vine, a half English half German actress in Nazi Germany just before the start of WW2 — who is actually a spy for the British — and also Jewish, living with forged papers. The only problem is that the series was originally published in the UK under one set of titles — and now being published in the USA — with different titles — and out of original order! I actually contacted the author to ask her how many books are there really — and in which order????? It turns out that the first in the series has not yet been published in the USA (and I tried to order it off of Amazon from a seller in the UK –and my luck — it got lost in the post & they sent me a refund — so I guess I’ll just have to wait until its published here?) — they published the 3rd & 4th in the series, and just now came out with this title — which is actually the 2nd in the series. Now THAT is a mystery!!!!! But amazingly well written, rich with details of the period, wonderful characterizations & gripping plots — couldn’t have figured out any on my own.